This blog shares stories and photographs about outdoor travels in the Northwest.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Klickitat Steelhead

The flashing highway signat the Lyle turnoff from Highway 14 said Highway 142 wasclosed 20 miles upstream.Pfui. Nothing clamps thebicuspids more than a schemegone awry. It's like dashingdown stairs and missing thelast step.Jarring, that's what.``Well, drat,'' I said. ``Wecan't drive to the bridge overthe Klickitat River at LeidlPark. Of all the rotten luck.''My wife Darlene let thecomment pass. Or perhaps Ijust thought it instead of saying it aloud.But, darn it, I wanted tostart at Leidl Park, offGlenwood Road, and fish myway downstream.I especially wanted to fishthe riffles along the StinsonFlat campground area. Onceupon a time I caught two fishthere.So, I sat at the turnoff,clutched the steering wheeland wrinkled the brow insome perplexity.I grumbled and pulled amap from the glove box andstudied the options:1, Drive back to the turnoffto Goldendale near the MaryHill Museum and circlearound that way to GlenwoodRoad;2, Drive on down theColumbia, past WhiteSalmon, and turn north onHighway 141 to Corner-Glenwood Road;3, Take the primitive FishHill Road to a junction withCorner-Glenwood Road southof Glenwood.4, Go home.Well, I rejected going home.It was 9:52 a.m., and eachof the other options couldtake several hours.``I suppose we can drive upas far as possible and fish ourway back,'' I muttered.After a mile, however, Ipulled off at the Fisher HillBridge, where pressing wallsof basalt squeeze the riverinto a rowdy cataract.One other vehicle sat nearthe bridge.``Someone may be dippingsalmon with a net from one ofthe scaffolds,'' I said.I parked and Sadie theDalmatian scooted down theramp from the pickup. Ihefted the camera with the300-millimeter-zoom lens onthe shoulder mount.I located one man, not dipping for anything. He stood ona ledge and tossed shrimpwith a spinning rod.Then we continued up theriver. I counted a dozen anglers and six kayakers in the 15or so miles to Klickitat.Not a good sign. If fish werebiting, especially on aSunday, 50 or 60 anglerswould have tossed flies in thatstretch of river.At a store in Klickitat Iasked a woman about theroad closure.It was, she said, near wherethe Little Klickitat River raninto the Klickitat, just beforeyou start up the steep hill atWahkiakus (pronouncedWah-kak-us).``Is there a way to bypassthe barrier?'' I asked.The woman spread a mapon the counter and pointedout a route over ``primitivegravel roads'' that led toGlenwood Road.I listened and tried to remember the various turns shedescribed, but, finally, itdidn't seem worth the effort.I thanked her, however, andwe drove on to the barrier.We turned around, reluctantly.I drove slow for a mile or soback down the river, with astop to photograph kayakersin a rapids, until I found ariffle to fish.July, August and September often spawn ideal fishing on the Klickitat.I had checked the WorleyBugger Fly Co. Web site before leaving home, and itsphotos of nice steelheadcaught earlier this monthhooked me.To escape the baking sun, Iparked beneath a shade tree.Slipping into waders mademe sweat through my shirt.I rigged up the steelheadrod with a floating line, a16-pound-test tippet, a purplewooly booger, and, with Sadiedogging my footsteps, wadedinto the cloudy river.The Klickitat flows fromConrad Glacier in the GoatRocks Wilderness and windsthrough the Yakima IndianReservation at the foot ofMount Adams.During the heat of the day,or during heavy rains, runoffcarries sand and grit thatcloud the river.As I worked the riffle, Sadieleaned close in case I hookeda fish, and she could sniff it.Alas, it was not to be.We had nary a nibble thereor at the other riffles wherewe tossed files.The only action we hadcame when Darlene sneakedup on us with a camera.That's when I really concentrated on hooking a fish,but all I snagged was a tension headache.Soon after that, I reeled inthe line and put away thegear. Darlene opened the icechest and lay out sandwiches.I dished up Sadie's dinner.We all ate in the shadewhile my sweaty clothesdried.Actually, it was a pleasantending to a fishing trip teeming with disappointments.

NOTE: The Web site address for the Worley BuggerFly Co iswwww.worleybuggerflyco.comGreg Thomas' book``Flyfisher's Guide to Washington'' explains how andwhen to fish the KlickitatRiver for steelhead. It waspublished in 2003 by Wilderness Adventures Press.Lyle, where the KlickitatRiver flows into the ColumbiaRiver, is 160 miles from WallaWalla. It's 30 miles north onHighway 142 to GlenwoodRoad and another 10 miles toLeidl Park.Near Wahkiakus you maywalk or bike for several milesalong a closed road near theriver.See photos at www.tripper.smugmug.com

About Me

Now retired, I once spent several hours each week, sometimes several days, traveling with Darlene and Nora the Schnauzer (since Sadie the Dalmatian died) in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, often with a fly rod and/or a backpack and always with a camera, to research columns for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin . See photos at www.tripper.smugmug.com.